Parting Gift
by The Frank-Ster
Summary: Peyton's suicide sends shockwaves through the small town of Tree Hill. How will the people close with Peyton handle the news? R&R.


"Does he know?" "No, I just found out. You're the first person I've told, since they pronounced her dead." Lucas couldn't believe it. Peyton Sawyer, the person he had come to know better in recent years, is no more. Dead, the blood in her veins now non-existant. Dangling from life and death inside for months, without anybody knowing, had gone off the deep end. All Haley could do was just stand their and watch her body fall off of that roof. She tried to stop it, keep a life from coming to a premature end. Damnnit, she tried the best she could. But her efforts meant nothing. Peyton was dead.

"I..." Lucas tried to muster, coming off unsuccessfully. "Why?" "Luke, you know she's been in crap for months." "I know, but..." In still in the state of shock that can cause a person to go mad, he still attempted to process this information in his brain. His brain, on the other hand, declined to accept Haley's words. Her words were ignored and bypassed by Lucas, kind of like a virus being deflected by a fireall. It doesn't matter if it wants to go through, the burning divide prevents it. "She could have gone places, Hales. What what the fuck was she thinking?" "Luke, the reason people do these things is the great mystery of life. We're just innocent witnesses to people like Peyton."

It remains to be seen how the human mind can act. Years can go by, with one bad tumor of unhappiness that can sit on the bench, but endorphins screen it from our common thinking. But when that tumor is reactivated by a break-in of gloom, it can destroy a person. Much like the way it did to Peyton. Peyton could have died of cancer. Peyton could have died of AIDS. Peyton could have died of tuberculosis. Heck, she could have even died of one hell of a car crash. But she induced her demise. Aborted her life. She just gave up completley.

"But Peyton", Lucas started, "seemed fine." "Lucas, you can't say she's been in some deep shit in her life. She thinks her mother died, the mother she thought she had, only for her actual mother to appear years later. You can't ignore what that must have put her through. And on top of that, that woman died as well." Haley was still haunted by the image; the feminine body topped with a head of guilt and sorrow and a mop of blond hair, flying, almost floating in air for a second, then crashing down with a screeching halt, resulting in a sizeable puddle if blood. Haley hates the sight of blood, no less the one of her dead friend.

"Peyton wouldn't do that just for that reason alone. I've been through my fair share of shit in my life, too." "That's what I've been thinking. But who knows, Luke. Peyton's always been sad." "I bet that's not true, Haley. I'm sure she's had some good times, before her mother died. The first one, I mean." "I bet she did, Luke. We haven't known her forever after all. But how do you think her dad will react? She's all he had. Now he's all alone. I can imagine how he feels." "There's just seemingly one bad omen in Tree Hill these days. Rachel and Cooper died just last week.

There's that little tidbit. Moments after Nathan and Haley's wedding reception, the two got into a fatal near-crash with the other two lovers. Their car plunged into the water, Nathan trying to save them. He reached no avail, however. And months before that, Keith died at the hands of Dan. But no one knows that, of course. The body count in this lttle town is rising, and there's nothing the denizens of Tree Hill can do about, but hope they aren't next. It's like a bad horror movie sequel these days: people die, only to end up having to mourn more. It's a painful lifestyle, but if one town has to live, it's shaping to be Tree Hill, as of late.

"Hey boyfriend" Brooke said, as she entered the room, and unintentionally ruined the moment. As she headed to Lucas to give him a peck on the cheek, she pulled away form Lucas to notice a somber mood in the room.

"Brooke", Haley started, with a frown and a sense of worry. "There's something you should know."


End file.
